Management of Arabic and Ajami Manuscript Resources In Northern History Research Scheme (NHRS)

Abstract

Arabic manuscripts are not new phenomena in Nigeria, Africa and the world over. Their importance to the educational development and societal reconstruction along moral, ethics, spiritual, social, economic, political and what have you, is yet to be known, due to the poor understanding of where they can be found and access to them easily obtained, and to know their intellectual content. It is in view of these that this desktop study is set to investigate the management of the Arabic manuscript resources in the Northern History Research Scheme of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. The total population of the research is 1508 in which 50% was used as the sample in deriving the data for the research. Documentary and survey methods were implored in achieving the objectives of the research, which include among others, what are the contents of Arabic and Ajami manuscripts, how are they organized, accessed and use in Northern History Research Scheme of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. The research recommend among others that the scheme should as matter of fact should try as much as possible to exploit the benefits brought by information and communication technologies (ICTs) as an alternative to its services and for easy access, retrieval and dissemination of information to it users.